The fishermen, who arrived from Bhubaneshwar by air, as arranged by the state government, met the Chief Minister at the secretariat, where she presented the cheques and thanked her.

"Considering their poverty-stricken family situation, the Chief Minister handed over cheques of Rs one lakh to each 18 fishermen from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund," a state government press release said.

The fishermen, hailing from Kanyakumari district, were stranded at sea, as the cyclone hit Odisha on Saturday. With their boat unable to withstand the rough sea, they jumped into the waters and swam to the shore at Ersama in Jagatsinghpur district of Odisha.

They were later taken to the district headquarters after being given medical aid, food, water and clothing.

The Chief Minister had directed the officials to take the necessary steps to help the fishermen.